ADB Launches 'Water Voices' and 'Water for All' Series

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (28 January 2004) - As part of its Water Week 2004, ADB yesterday launched a documentary film series, which looks at the region's water crisis and how local people and local solutions are responding, as well as a series of 12 publications on water issues facing the poor.

The Water Voices series, funded by ADB, consists of seven high-quality 22-minute documentaries featuring countries and issues as diverse as environmental degradation in Fiji, urban water supply in Phnom Penh and Dhaka, empowerment of women in India, and reconciling upstream and downstream interests on the Ping River in Northern Thailand.

The "Water for All" publications series consists of 12 books on water issues and the poor. Topics include "Water & Poverty," "Poverty & Water Security," "Water in Asian Cities" and "Floods and the Poor."

Both the Water Voices and the Water for All series are part of the ADB's Water Awareness Program and are designed to increase public understanding about vital water issues in the Asian and Pacific region.

Produced by documentary filmmakers Halsey Street of New Zealand, Water Voices will be distributed widely to national and local broadcasters throughout the region, with provision for the production of national language versions.

The first Water Voices program - "Waibulabula. Living Waters" - was broadcast on the BBC World program "Earth Report" in August 2003, and a second film, "Upstream, Downstream" about the Ping River in northern Thailand will be broadcast by BBC World in February.

"Despite the huge water challenges we face in Asia today, with one in three people lacking access to safe drinking water, half the population having inadequate sanitation and increased conflict over water resources, there is no shortage of inspiring examples of people stepping up to confront these challenges head-on," said Steve Griffiths, Executive Producer of Water Voices.

"From an unlikely collaboration in Fiji to a revolutionary water utility in Phnom Penh and local community groups in the Philippines willing to accept financial risk in putting in place their local water solution, the 'Water Voices' documentary series recognizes the power of good examples and shows how 'home grown' solutions to water problems are often the most effective. We hope that this series will help increase awareness and encourage action to tackle crucial water issues across the region."

The seven documentaries, which take a story-based documentary approach and highlight how water issues impact the lives of people, especially the poor, are:

• "Waibulabula - Living Waters," which looks at how coastal communities, a local nongovernment organization (NGO) and a tourist resort are working together to save the reef on the Coral Coast of the Fiji Islands and protect and manage water resources.
• "Walking for Water," where women from the state of Gujarat, India, are managing village water systems and bringing water closer to their villages, so significantly shortening the three hours they spend every day fetching water and giving them enough time to earn a living through a handicraft cooperative.
• "The Connection," which profiles the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority and its dynamic director, Ek Sonn Chan and how they have transformed a water supply system that was in ruins after the civil war in Cambodia into one of Asia's most effective water utilities, providing water for almost all of the city's residents.
• "Upstream Downstream," which looks at how The Ping River Basin Committee is balancing the competing water demands of the upstream and downstream communities on the Ping River in northern Thailand and seeking common ground on the sharing and protecting of this vital river system.
• "Hidden Paradise," which shows how a community of squatters in Bacolod City, Philippines, managed to gain ownership to a tract of land, set up their own water system and transformed their community.
• "Water Tomorrow," which profiles how community organizers are working to change peoples' behavior to safeguard water supplies and the environment on the remote island countries of Kiribati and Tonga in the Pacific, where groundwater sources are highly vulnerable to pollution and salt water intrusion.
• "Breaking Barriers," where a poor community in Dhaka, Bangladesh, considered to be illegal squatters with no access to the city's water or sanitation services, is managing communal water points, with assistance from a local NGO.

All seven documentaries are filmed in widescreen Digital Betacam. Each program lasts 22 minutes and is available in PAL, NTSC Digital Betacam, or Betacam SP as well as non broadcast formats, such as DVD and VHS.

Water Week is taking place from 26 to 30 January 2004 under the general theme of "Water for the Poor: Setting the Rules and Finding the Money." The goal is to bring together water experts from government, civil society and business and to encourage them to think beyond conventional solutions in increasing the poor's access to water.

For information about Water Voices broadcast and educational distribution contact:
Steven Griffiths, Distribution Manager
Water Awareness Program
Asian Development Bank
Tel: (+63-2) 632-5861
Fax: (+63-2) 636-2381
Email: water@adb.org

To order a film or a publication, contact: adbpub@adb.org